


Is This Home?

by xVanilla



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cloud's a dick (not really), F/M, He's got secrets, I'm Bad At Tagging, Johnny needs to chill, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Teasing Tifa is fun, Tifa and Marlene are sisters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29912571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xVanilla/pseuds/xVanilla
Summary: Another year, another time. Time in which she doesn't have. School, work and her little sister, that's her life and that's how it was after her parents death. Romance took a backseat to everything else. She is independent and stubborn, but will she stay that way when someone new enters her life?Why does he need to go to school? It's not going to change what he is. He isn't exactly human. He's done things he wished he didn't. Despite everything he's done and everything he's been through, they still want him to go to school.High School AU
Relationships: Cid Highwind/Shera, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife, Yuffie Kisaragi/Vincent Valentine, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Is This Home?

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfic ever. Love the relationship between Cloud and Tifa and wanted to write something about them.  
> Special thanks to Audrey for being my beta for this fic (my writing is horrific and crazy).
> 
> Starts light and slow but develops into something chaotic.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

**April 1st, 2004**

The start of a new school year. Tifa Lockhart is now a second year at Midgar Academy, a place for all grade levels from elementary, middle, high, and even college. Unfortunately, Tifa isn’t in the same class as her friends. 

Aerith Gainsborough, one of Tifa’s childhood friends, is in a different classroom, and she was lucky enough to be in the same room as her boyfriend, Zack Fair. Yuffie Kisaragi, who is also one of Tifa’s childhood friends, is also separated from her two best friends in a different classroom, but just like Aerith, Yuffie was lucky to be in the same room as her boyfriend, Vincent Valentine. Tifa was a bit disappointed that she wasn’t in the same class as her friends, but regardless, she was going to make the best of it. 

Tifa is a hardworking and studious young woman, usually at the top of the class, placing first almost every time on the midterms and finals. Her classmates would ask her for help whenever a test was coming up, but it was usually guys that asked. People admired her because despite losing both her parents at the age of 10, leaving her to take care of her younger sister, Marlene Lockhart, who is in her first year of elementary school at Midgar Academy, she still puts on a strong and positive face.

They had no relatives that lived within the area so they were about to be taken to an orphanage until Aerith’s mother, Elmyra Gainsborough, decided to take them both in after their parents passed away. Once Tifa was old enough to work, she started saving enough to move out, not wanting to impose on her best friend and her mother any longer. Despite them telling her that it was an unnecessary thought, she still wanted to move out and be independent, working as many hours to be able to support her and her little sister. After a year of working long shifts, along with some gil left behind by her deceased parents, she was able to move into an apartment building, next door to her best friend, Yuffie. 

The first few hours of class went by fairly quickly. Mostly introductions and getting to know their fellow classmates. Tifa was in Cid Highwind’s class. He is a well known teacher with an extremely bright personality. Aerith and Zack were in the class next door, Reeve Tuesti’s class, who is also Zack’s uncle. As for Yuffie and Vincent, they are in the next class over, Barret Wallace’s class, whose personality almost rivals Mr. Highwind’s. During lunch, Tifa, Aerith, Zack, Yuffie and Vincent meet up and head to the roof of the academy, chatting about anything and everything. 

“So is there anyone interesting in your class Teef?” Yuffie, a 16 year old short, dark brown-eyed, black hair that reaches her shoulders and loud mouth girl asked.

“Nobody really stands out.” Tifa, a 16 year old scarlet-eyed brunette, whose hair reaches the end of her waist, tied at the end with a red scrunchy that parts the ends to look like a dolphin tail, replies.

“Isn’t Johnny in your class?” Yuffie is asking about Johnny Lowenthal, a 17 year old red-haired, brown-eyed male.

“Doesn’t Johnny have a huge crush on you Tifa?” Aerith, a 17 year old, green-eyed girl with light brown hair that is always braided and tied at the top with a pink ribbon, states.

“You should give him a chance if he asks you out, Teefs!” Zack, the 17 year old blue-eyed man with raven colored hair that spikes backwards, adds.

“You all know that I don’t have time for that. Aside from school and work, I also have to take care of Marlene. I rarely have any free time for myself.”

“Can’t he come help you out? While you cook and stuff, he can play with lil Marlene. It would be like a little family already!” The short brunette says.

“Not a chance. Marlene is too shy. The first time she met Johnny, she said that he gave her the creeps.” Tifa explains to her friends.

“But Johnny is such a harmless guy! Didn’t it take some time for Marlene to get used to doom and gloom over here?” Zack gestures to Vincent, a 17 year old, red-eyed male with long black hair that stretched down to his collarbone.

“It was because he looked scary,” Tifa glances at Vincent with sorrowful eyes, “But she opened up to him once she got to know him better. Johnny’s personality isn’t bad, there is just something about him that Marlene doesn’t like.”

“Come on Teef, you really need to get a boyfriend one of these days so that we can all go out on a triple date!” The short-haired female pleads.

“Don’t worry about it. I might not find one now, but maybe someone will walk into my life one day and be able to take care of me and Marlene.”

“Geez, someone to take care of a strong and independent woman that can kick your ass. That is going to be tough.” the blue eyed man states, earning him a nudge to his side from his girlfriend. “OWWWW”

Tifa giggles at the exchange, “I can’t really blame him for saying that, especially since it’s true.”

Soon the bell for lunch rings and it is time for the group to head back to class. The rest of the day wasn’t exciting. Just reviewing some materials from the previous year and what they are going to be doing during PE, which is going to be joint class with the other rooms. Tifa was glad that it wasn’t going to be divided because Johnny would be gawking at her while she was in her school swimsuit. Tifa has gotten confessions in the past, most of them mainly liked her for her looks or body. None of them really knew who she was as an individual. Once the day was over, Tifa started walking out of her class before she was stopped.

“TIFA MY GODDESS! I AM SO GLAD THAT I GET TO BE IN THE SAME CLASS AS MY SWEET GODDESS!” Johnny, a redhead that had a crush on her since the beginning of time, shouts as he chases after her.

“Johnny, for the last time, stop calling me that.”

“BABE! YOU KNOW I CAN’T.” 

Tifa rubs her temples, “I’m flattered Johnny, but I really don’t have time for this. I need to pick up my sister.”

“Let me come with you! I know she loves my company!”

“Hey, Johnny! What are you up to, man?!” Zack pops up behind the red head, placing an arm around his shoulder.

“Zack! Bro! Great to see you again! I’m doing great! I get to be in the same class as my angel!” He gestures with both hands as if he is presenting Tifa.

Zack slowly starts pulling Johnny into a walk, passing Tifa in the process, “Man, you are so lucky! Couple of the guys in the other classes must be jealous of you!”

While Zack distracts Johnny, Aerith, Yuffie and Vincent start to guide Tifa out towards the exit. They all start walking towards the elementary division of school and spot Marlene standing at the gate.

* * *

“Big Sister!” Marlene Lockhart, a 7 year old little girl with dark brown eyes and brown hair shouts, while running to give her sister a hug.

“Hey, Marlene! How was your first day of school?” Tifa asks, reciprocating the affection.

“It was fun! I made a new friend!” The little sister replied, then caught a glimpse of her new friend passing by, “Betty!”

“Marlene!!” Everyone looks up to see Betty Gannaway, a 7 year old girl with brown eyes and light brown hair tied into a high bun and a pink scrunchy tied around the base, yell back.

“Hi, Betty, I’m Tifa, Marlene’s older sister. Nice to meet you!” The brunette greets, getting eye level with the two younger girls. 

“My name is Aerith. Nice to meet you. I’m Marlene’s other older sister.” The green-eyed woman greets with a wide smile.

“And I’m Yuffie! Pleasure to meet ya! And just like these two, I’m also Marlene’s older sister!” The short brunette chimes in with an open mouth smile.

“Vincent, and I’m not Marlene’s older brother.” The raven-haired male greets with a nod.

“Hi!” Betty replies, glancing at each of the older students then back to her new friend, “Wow, Marlene, you have so many pretty sisters!”

Marlene giggles, “Yup! Which means I get a lot of gifts during my birthdays!”

“Thanks for calling us pretty, Betty!” Yuffie says, “It’s nice to be pretty, but not when it means we have to run away from guys that want our attention.”

“Especially when you don’t have a boyfriend to keep them all away.” Aerith adds, “Like this sister right here.” She continues, gripping both of Tifa’s shoulders, who rolls her eyes at the comment.

“Who is she trying to get away from?” Betty asks, tilting her head to the side.

“A guy that has a huge crush on her and won’t let her out of his sights.” The short friend says.

“Oooooo, who is it, Big Sister? Will I have a Big Brother soon?” The little girl asks with stars gleaming from her eyes.

“It’s the red-haired guy you saw before Marlene.” Tifa responded with a small smile on her face, knowing how her sister would react.

“Oh.. Nevermind.” Marlene’s expression drops as she remembers that she doesn’t like Johnny all that much. The three girls chuckle while Vincent just smirks at the girl's tone.

“HEY!!!”

Everyone turns to see Zack running towards them. 

“Man, that guy just wouldn’t shut up! Every conversation I had with him was always about you, Teefs. He is head over heels for you. What did you do to make him fall so hard?”

“I don’t know, Zack. The only time I remember talking to him was when I was helping him study a few times during lunch last year.”

“Were you exposing yourself to him or something? Peak his interest during the study session?” 

“YUFFIE!” The brunette quickly covers her little sister's ears. 

“Sorry! But seriously, did you?”

“Of course not. I am not going to expose myself in any way.”

“I mean, you don’t even have to expose yourself, just press your chest against them and they will be all over you.” Vincent smacks the top of Yuffie’s head at her statement. “OWW, VINNIE!!”

“Don’t you and Aerith have work soon?” The quiet Vincent brings up.

“OH YEAH! We’ll see you all tomorrow! Bye!!!” The short brunette says on the realization. Both she and Aerith quickly run to get ready to work at the family restaurant.

Betty spots her father and bids everyone her farewell before joining him. The rest of the group give their goodbyes and head their separate ways. At their apartment, Tifa starts preparing dinner while Marlene starts flipping through the TV. After dinner, the two sisters play a few board games until it’s time to go to sleep. 

* * *

**April 2nd**

The next day, Tifa is woken up by her alarm clock. She rubs her eyes while plopping her hand on the alarm to shut it off. She looks next to her and wakes up her sister, who is still sound asleep. They get up, wash their faces, brush their teeth, comb their hairs, put on their uniforms and head for school. Tifa drops off Marlene, giving her a hug, then proceeds to walk to the high school division. After a few minutes of walking, she finally reaches her class and sits at her seat.

“GOOD MORNING, MY GODDESS!”

“Good Morning, Johnny,” Tifa replies with a forced smile. She really isn’t looking forward to dealing with this every morning.

“Babe! Did you hear about the transfer student we’re getting today?”

“Oh really? Do you know who it is?” The brunette asks.

“I heard it was a guy.”

“It’s a guy!” Yuffie jumps into the conversation. “I hear that he’s transferring over from Gongaga Academy.”

“Good Morning, Yuffie. And isn’t that academy an elite school? Why is someone from there transferring here?” The brunette asks.

“Apparently, this student was a troublemaker at school, and his father had to transfer him out.”

“Oh.. didn’t expect something like that from a student at an elite school.”

“My sources say that he’s going to be in your class. Make sure you get some deets on him for me, Teef. It’s my job to know everyone and everything about this school.” Yuffie puffs out her chest and places both arms on her hips.

“I’ll see what I can do. I’m pretty sure everyone is going to be asking him a lot of questions.” Shortly after, the bell for class to start rings.

“Well, guess I will see you later, Teef.”

“See you later, Yuffie.” She waves to her friend. Yuffie walks out of the classroom while Johnny heads to his seat, which is on the opposite side of the class.

“Alright, everyone. Get in your seats.” Cid announces while walking in, “I’m pretty sure y’all know that we’re havin’ a new body in class. He transferred here from Gongaga Academy. So y’all play nice, you hear!? Anyways, come on in.”

The door opens, and the new student walks in. It doesn’t take a second before people start whispering among themselves when they see him. He’s average in height, with golden, spiked hair that seems to defy gravity. From a distance, he seems to have light blue eyes, but it’s hard for Tifa to see from the back of the class. He's wearing a silver earring on his left ear, but what really catches everyone’s attention is the fact that his arms are all wrapped up. When he turns to face the class, they’re shaken up by his sharp eyes. Everyone is on edge about this new student, but for some reason, Tifa is more drawn to his eyes. 

“Alright now, introduce yourself!” Cid says.

“Cloud Strife.” His voice is deep and there isn’t a hint of emotion in the way he spoke.

The classroom is silent. Everyone waits to see if the new student is going to say anything else. After a few moments, he still doesn’t say anything.

“Is that it, son?” Cid asked.

Cloud nods.

“Uhhh. Alright then.” Cid looks at the rest of the class. “Anybody got any questions to ask Mr. Strife?”

“How old are you?” One of the girls in class asks.

“Seventeen,” Cloud responds.

Johnny extends his hand. The class looks at him. “Why are your arms all bandaged up?” Everyone looks back at the blond.

“I got hurt.” Silence takes over the room again.

Another student raises their hand. “Why did you transfer here from Gongaga Academy?”

“Family reasons.” He continues to answer all questions with very short replies.

“I heard you transferred here because you were a troublemaker at your old school. Is that true?” The redhead quickly adds.

Cloud doesn’t reply. Instead, he shoots a terrifying glare at Johnny, which also scares everyone in the class. After that, nobody asks another question.

“Well then, since there's goin’ to be no more questions. Let’s get Mr. Sunshine here a seat.” Cid looks around for an open seat. “Right there. Next to Lockhart.”

Tifa raises her hand to let him know where she is. Cloud nods, and walks toward the seat next to Tifa, the seat being closest to the door at the back of the room. He sits.

“Hi, Tifa Lockhart.” She extends her hand out to her new classmate with a smile on her face. “Nice to meet you!”

“Cloud Strife. Likewise.” He doesn’t look at her, nor shake her hand.

Tifa is put off by this new guy. _What a great guy.._ she thought sarcastically. First meeting, and she’s already getting a bad vibe from the new student. She hopes that she doesn’t need to see this guy often. 

“Hey, Sunshine,” Cid calls out to Cloud. “You got your books, already?”

Cloud shakes his head, responding no.

“Well then, Lockhart, mind sharin’ with him until his books come in?”

“I don’t mind.” When in fact,Tifa did, but she wasn’t going to say that.

She connects her seat with Cloud’s so she can share the book with him. During class, Cloud and Tifa’s faces were pretty close to each other, with both of them having to lean towards the middle to look at the book and follow along. He doesn’t seem to care, but Tifa feels a bit unsettled by the closeness. After a while, her eyes start to wander towards him. She’s able to get a better look at his silver stud, which looks like a wolf. She’s also able to see the color of his eyes. They aren’t like any blue that she has ever seen before. Most of his eyes are blue, but it has a weird, greenish glow to them. She isn’t aware of the eyes of all the males in the class, jealous of the attention that Tifa, who is considered to be one of the idols of the school with top grades and a grade A body, was giving him.

After eyeing the males in the class, Cid finally states, “All the males excludin’ Cloud, get ya hands out of ya pants and pay attention!”

That gets the attention of everyone in the class. The guys, excluding Cloud who remains unfazed, quickly stiffen up, eyes forward, while all the girls in the class start to laugh. Soon, Tifa realizes how close she is to Cloud and quickly backs away. A small hint of pink starts to show on her cheeks, while Cloud still remains unchanged. During class, Tifa starts to become curious about the new student, but decides to push the thought to the back of her mind, turning all her attention back on the task at hand. 

Before the bell for lunch rang, Cid asked the class. “Okay, before everyone eats. Is anyone willin’ to show Mr. Sunshine around the campus?” Everyone looks around, none of them wanting to volunteer.

“I will,” Tifa volunteers herself after noticing that nobody wanted to do so.

“Thanks, Lockhart. I had a feelin’ you would. Nobody seems to have some balls around here.” He glances at everyone else in the classroom.

Tifa quickly puts everything away into her bag. She looks over to see that Cloud’s desk is already empty. She quickly gets out of her seat and steps out into the hallway. She looks around and spots the gravity defying spikes. She quickly paces towards him until Yuffie pops out in front of her.

“Teef! What’s the new guy like? Is he hot? What does he look like? Your type? I need to know!!”

“I don’t know too much, Yuffie. He wasn’t exactly a talkative guy.” She glances above her short best friend, only to lose sight of the new student due to the intrusion. “Great, I lost him.”

“Who’d you lose Teefs?” Zack asks while he walks with Aerith to greet their friends.

“The new student. Mr. Highwind asked me to show him around the campus.”

“What does he look like?” Aerith asks.

“He’s a bit taller than me. Blond spikes and blue eyes that remind me of a bright night sky. His arms are also wrapped up and he wears a silver wolf stud on his left ear. Didn’t you see him pass your class?”

“Nope, I would have noticed someone with blond spiky hair. Sticks out too much.” Zack responds.

“Well, guess I’ll have to find him, then.” She quickly walks past her friends to find the guy that suddenly vanished.

“We’ll help too!” The short brunette says.

With that, everyone goes around the campus to find this new student. They all search until the last few minutes of lunch. They meet up again in front of Yuffie and Vincent’s classroom. 

“Did you find him?” Tifa asks the rest of her friends, breathing a bit hard from looking all around the campus.

“Surprisingly no. No blond spikes anywhere. Where is this guy?” Yuffie responds, also panting.

The rest of the group says the same thing, as they were unable to find the blond. They all eventually give up as the bell for the end of lunch rings. They all say their farewells and head back to their respective classrooms. Tifa approaches the entrance and sees Cloud sitting in his desk.

“Where were you?” Tifa asks. “I was supposed to show you around, but you just disappeared.”

“Around.” He replies.

Before she could ask another question, Cid steps into the room and tells everyone to get into their seat. “Lockhart, were you able to educate Mr. Sunshine durin’ the tour?”

“Well I—-“ 

“She showed me around the campus. She showed me where the cafeteria is, and told me about how the academy is split up into different divisions, like the elementary, middle, and high school divisions. They also have a college division if you decide to stay. All the divisions are separated by a metal fence. She was very kind and helpful while showing me around the school,” Cloud says before Tifa could tell Cid that she didn’t show him around.

Everyone in the classroom stares at him, as that was the most that he has ever said. Tifa was also taken back by this. She knows that she didn’t show him around, yet he knew all this about the academy. 

“Well good job, Lockhart. I knew I could trust ya. Okay, well, y’all know that we’re goin’ to be usin’ the pool for a while, so everyone, get out of here!”

All the males, excluding Cloud, are excited to be swimming for PE. Mostly because they’re all able to see Tifa in her school swimsuit. Everyone gets up to start walking towards the locker room to change into their swim gear. After changing, they all get into the school pool. Since it’s a joint period, Tifa’s able to see her friends and not be left alone with all the wandering eyes. The brunette notices that not everyone was in the pool. She looks up and spots Cloud sitting out on the activity, reading a book on the side.

“So he’s the new student? He’s hot!” Yuffie says looking at the new guy, earning a knock on the head from her quiet boyfriend. “Why did you hit me, Vinnie! I’m just giving my opinion about this new, mysterious guy.” 

“Why isn’t he swimmin’ with the rest of us? He hurt or somethin’?” Zack asks, glancing over at the blond.

“I don’t know. He’s always quiet in class. He was really focused on the lecture even when Mr. Highwind pointed out to every guy in the class to get their hands out of their pants.”

“So you were staring at him throughout class, Teef?” The short girl asks with a grin planted on her face.

“No I wasn’t!” The brunette waves her hand in front of her to deny her friend's statement. “He doesn’t have any of his books yet, and since I sit next to him, Mr. Highwind asked me to share with him.” 

“Ooooo, so you got real up close and personal to him then.” Zack joins in the fun, smirk on his face as well.

“It’s not like that, guys. Remember, I don’t have time for romance. Taking care of Marlene is one of my top priorities.”

“TIFA, MY GODDESS!! YOU LOOK FABULOUS!!” Johnny rushes over and tries to hug Tifa.

“Man, not this again.” Zack stops the redhead’s advances with a foot to his face.

“Come on Bro! Why do you have to get between me and my angel!?” His eyes show disappointment.

“Hey Johnny, what do you think of the new guy?” Yuffie asks, trying to change the subject while Tifa slowly creates some distance between herself and Johnny.

“First day and I already don’t like him. No reaction, no nothing. He seems so dead.” He stares at the blond. “Maybe I can get him to react to something.” Johnny slowly heads to the side close to where Cloud was sitting at.

“This is not going to end well. Is it?” Aerith asks, trying to make out what Johnny might be attempting. The rest of the group nods in agreement. Something was going to happen, and it wasn’t going to go down smoothly.

“Hey, Strife!” Everyone looks towards Johnny. “What are you doing there just reading? Join the fun!”

Cloud doesn’t even acknowledge the redhead’s cry. Johnny doesn’t like that he’s being ignored, so he decides to use his hands and splashes a huge wave of water, drenching the blond from head to toe. Everyone gasps at what Johnny just did.

“Johnny! What was that for?” Tifa exclaims. She definitely doesn’t like what he just did.

“He isn’t doing anything! We should be all swimming, but he’s just sitting there, reading a book!”

Tifa and the rest of her friends quickly jump out of the pool and rush towards the new student, with all of them, except Vincent, asking him if he was okay. He slowly got up on his feet. Johnny suddenly looks scared, like he thought he was going to do something, and so were the rest of the students. To everyone one’s surprise, he turns and walks into the locker room, with no words ever leaving his mouth. Everyone’s left silent. 

“Geez, he makes Doom And Gloom over here look like a social butterfly.” Zack points his thumb towards Vincent while his eyes look in the direction of where the new student walked towards.

“Can you both go check on him?” Tifa asks both the guys. They both nod and head for the locker room. “We should get changed and meet them outside.” The girls agree and head for the girls locker room.

* * *

“Is he okay, in there?” Aerith shouts from the other entrance to the guys locker room

Both Vincent and Zack walk out of the locker room, “He isn’t in there. And we looked everywhere.” Zack throws his arms up as if he gave up.

“Where would he be? I don’t see any wet tracks anywhere and he shouldn’t have dried himself off that quickly either.” Tifa wonders where Cloud disappeared too.

Just like lunch, the group searches the hallways for the blond. Tifa runs to her classroom just in case he was already there, only to find it completely empty. Once again, they run around the school, and still find no signs of Cloud. Eventually the bell rings for the next class to start. They all look defeated, unable to find the blond once again and decide to head back to their classrooms. Tifa heads over and looks at the entrance where the blond sits, only to find him not present. She enters the room and sits down at her seat. Everyone else notices the missing new student and quickly shoots a look at Johnny, who puts his hands up in defense. Soon after, Cid walks in and tells them to get their butts in their seats.

“Where’s Sunshine?” Noticing the missing seat next to Tifa.

“We’re not sure. We saw him walk into the locker room after Johnny splashed him from head to toe with water.” One of the students responds.

“What’s wrong with that? Y’all were swimmin’! Nothin’ wrong with gettin’ wet!”

“He didn’t swim. He was sitting on the side reading a book. He was still in his normal clothes too.” A different student states.

“What fool you tryin’ to be Johnny!”

“I’m sorry! I got annoyed because he was ignoring me!”

Cid shakes his head and lets out a heavy sigh. “Lockhart, mind checkin’ the nurse's office? He might be there.”

“Got it.” Tifa gets out of her seat and starts heading for the nurses office, while everyone in class shoots Johnny another look of disapproval.

* * *

Once she is in front of the door, she knocks and waits for the nurse to let her in. Once she gets the okay to come in, she opens the door and greets the school nurse.

“Hey, darling. What can I help you with today?” The nurse asks with a smile on her face.

“Hi, Mrs. Highwind. I’m checking to see if a classmate of mine is here.” Tifa replies to Shera Highwind, the school nurse and Cid Highwind’s wife.

“Who are you looking for?”

“He’s a new student that started today. He’s got blond spikes and blue eyes. He left class earlier because he got soaked head to toe with water. My friends and I chased after him a little while after he left but we couldn’t find him. He wasn’t in his seat when class started so your Mr. Highwind asked me to come by and check if he was here.”

“I see. Well I did get a student that came in a while ago. He didn’t have shoes on and was slightly wet. I think he’s the one you’re looking for. He is using one of the beds right now.” She gestures to the bed that is covered behind the curtain. “He’s been in there for a while. And if you will excuse me. I need to step out for a bit.”

The nurse gets off her chair and steps out of the office. The brunette silently bids her farewell and starts heading towards the curtains.

“Cloud? Are you okay?” She asks.

No response.

“Hello? Cloud? I know you’re in there.”

Still no response. Tifa was starting to get irritated by this new student, and it was only his first day as well. 

“I’m opening up the curtain. Hope you’re decent.” Tifa swings open the curtains and spots Cloud on the bed half naked. She quickly averts her eyes away from him and flutters her hands in front of her, apologizing for intruding. She also starts to blush heavily when she sees that he’s rather built. It doesn’t look like he has an ounce of fat on his body. Out of the corner of her eye, she glances over and sees something horrifying. Her head turns back towards his direction so she can get a clear look at his body. _What are all those scars? There is no way that is normal._

Cloud’s back is covered with countless scars. Lacerations cover almost every single crevice of his back that it’s probably easier to count the amount of scarless spots than actual scars. However, what really horrifies her is the huge circular scar in the middle of his body. All the other scars look healed, but that one looks more fresh. She quickly looks at the blond’s starry blue eyes, filled with what seems like anger, but there’s also a slight feeling of familiarity in his eyes, even though she doesn’t remember ever meeting him until today.

She flinches when he gets up. He turns to her direction and slowly walks to her. As he walks, she sees a few more scars on the front of his body, noticing the same, fresh scar in the middle of his chest, as well as healed scars on his arms that were wrapped up earlier today. Before she knows it, he’s directly in front of her, only stopping a few inches from her, peering down into her scarlet red eyes. His right arm extends and she quickly flinches, covering her eyes, expecting him to yell or hit her. When she notices that none of that happened, she opens her eyes, and meets his, still glaring down at her. In the next moment, he quickly closes the curtain in her face.

She’s stunned for a moment. She shakes herself back to normal and sits down on the nearby chair. After a few silent minutes, the curtain opens up again, revealing a fully clothed Cloud in his gym clothes. He gets up and proceeds to exit the office, while Tifa follows him with her eyes before she gets up as well to start following him. 

As she approaches him, she asks, “Hey Cloud, what’s with all those scars?”

No response. She finally catches up to him and is now walking side by side with him, who is still not acknowledging her presence as she continues asking more questions.

“I know you can hear me. What’s with all those scars on your body?”

Still nothing. Not even a glance.

“Hey, Mr. Sunshine, are you going to tell me about your scars?”

He stops. She feels a bit relieved that he might finally answer her, until his head quickly turns to her direction and glares at her, causing her to flinch once again. From there, he slowly approaches her, causing her to slowly back away, trying to keep the distance between them until her back is against the wall. Her heart is now pumping, not knowing what he intends to do as he slowly closes the space between. He stops a few inches from her and begins to lean his face towards her. Unsure of what to do under his deathly glare, she closes her eyes once again, bracing for what’s to come. She can feel his breath on her neck. 

He whispers into her ear, “Don’t say anything about what you saw. Forget about it completely.” Her eyes shoot open, then he slowly straights back up and continues to walk the hallways, heading towards their classroom.

She stands there briefly, heart pounding so hard that she might just pass out, unsure if she should be scared of him, because she also finds his voice upon her ear rather alluring. _No. No time for being oddly attracted to him. I don’t have time for any of that!_ She mentally slaps herself and soon shadows the blond, heading for their classroom. She keeps a few feet of distance between them, head facing the ground as they go back to class. At the corner of her eye, she is able to see his legs, noticing that they are also well sculpted just like his body. An image of Cloud half naked causes her to frantically shake her head at the thought. _What’s with me today? I’ve never been like this before, eyeing a guy that I don’t even know._

Soon they are at the entrance to the class. Cloud opens the door and walks in first with Tifa coming in a few moments after.

“Well, glad you finally decided to come back to class you two.” Cid says while the two students head back to their seats. “I was startin’ to think you two might of ran off and eloped or somethin’.” Tifa’s blushes heavily at the statement, while the rest of the class laughs.

Johnny lets out an outburst. “NO WAY! THAT AIN’T HAPPENING! TIFA IS MY ANGEL!” He quickly gets up and stomps towards Cloud, who still doesn’t react.

“Johnny! Get back in your seat! I don’t have time for you to be messin’ around!” Cid quickly walks and tries to get between them.

Tifa slams her desk, “Johnny! Get back!” It was time for her to let out an outburst, causing everyone, except Cloud, to quickly halt and look at her with a surprised expression.

“But bab—“ 

“And for the last time, stop calling me that!” She glares at him. “Go back to your seat. You have caused enough trouble for Cloud on his first day!”

The whole room is quiet. Even the other rooms paused at what was happening. Everyone is surprised by Tifa’s outburst, as she’s usually the calm and caring type of person, rarely ever getting mad. Johnny turns on his heels and quickly retreats back to his seat. 

“Well, guess it's time to continue with class now,” Cid says, breaking the incredibly awkward silence as he turns around and heads for the front of the classroom again. “Lockhart, hope you don’t mind sharing your book again with Mr. Sunshine.”

She quietly moves her desk closer to Cloud. As she was about to turn around and grab her chair, she noticed that it was already behind her. She quickly averts her eyes towards her new classmate, surprised that he actually did something outside of focusing on a book or staring out into the hallway. She sits herself down and opens her book to the appropriate page. She and Cloud lean in to follow the rest of the lecture.

In a quiet voice, Cloud says, “Sorry. And thanks.”

She is taken by surprise. She subtly glances at him, only to see that his eyes never averted away from the book in front of them. She doesn’t know if she heard it right, but she is certain that he just apologized and thanked her. For what, she didn’t know and never got the chance to ask. 

After a few more hours, school is over. She stretches her limbs, tired from leaning over while she was sharing her books with Cloud. She separates their seats, turns to once again see that her chair is right behind her. She looks towards the blond’s seat, only to see that he is already gone. She packs the rest of her stuff into her bag and proceeds to head for the exit. For once, Johnny doesn’t try to follow her. She meets up with her friends. They go down the stairs and head for the exit.

“So, I heard that you let out quite a yell today, Teef. What happened when we got back to class after PE?” Yuffie asks while she’s walking backwards and facing her friends.

“I... don’t know what came over me. Johnny was walking towards Cloud with an angry look on his face.”

“What was he so mad about?” Aerith asks, trying to fill in the puzzle.

“I’m not sure. I went to the nurse’s office when Mr. Highwind told me to go and check if Cloud was there. When we came back, he said something that made him mad.”

“What did Mr. Loudmouth say?” Now it was Zack’s turn, interested in what the old man said.

Tifa recalls what he said and starts to blush while staring at the ground, “He said something about me and Cloud eloping and not coming back to class.” Aerith, Yuffie and Zack all burst out laughing while Vincent lets out a small chuckle at what Tifa said.

“Well, no wonder Johnny would get pissed. He thinks that the two of you are soulmates. Then all of a sudden, a new kid comes by and steals you away,” The shorty states, still laughing at Cid’s comment.

“I guess.” Tifa looks at the time on her phone. “Oh no! I need to hurry up and pick up Marlene! I’ll see you all tomorrow!” She quickly runs towards the gate and waves goodbye to her friends.

She quickly runs towards the gate of elementary, until she spots a familiar set of golden spikes kneeling down near the gate, next to a little girl crying. She slowly walks over and sees that the little girl is Marlene. _Did he make her cry?_ Before she could shout out her little sister’s name, she sees Cloud reaching for his back pocket. He pulls out a bandage, lightly holding Marlene’s leg and places the bandage on her knee. Afterwards, his hand lightly taps the top of her head, trying to comfort her. To her surprise, Marlene slowly stops crying and soon begins to smile. 

Marlene looks behind the man that is patting her head, “Big Sister!” She quickly gets up and runs towards Tifa, giving her a hug.

The older sister gets down to her eye level. “Hey, Marlene! Are you okay? Why were you crying?” She also starts patting her little sister’s head, making sure that she is okay.

“I’m fine now. I was crying because I tripped. I hurt my knee.” She turns toward the man to see him standing up and glancing in their direction. “He put a bandaid on it and started rubbing my head. Then, I didn’t feel like crying anymore.”

Tifa slowly gets up and looks towards her new classmate, who is also glancing back at them. “Oh I see.”

“He is very nice.” Marlene says with a smile on her face.

The sisters start walking towards Cloud. Tifa looks up into his cerulean eyes. “Thank you for helping my little sister Cloud.” 

“Big Sister! Do you know him?” She looks up at her sister while Cloud and Tifa’s eyes look at her.

“He is a classmate of mine.” Then, she continues to introduce the two. “Marlene, this is Cloud Strife. Cloud, meet my little sister, Marlene Lockhart.”

Marlene looks up at the blond with a big smile on her face, “Thank you, Cloud!”

He nods at her, then looks up and nods at Tifa. Then, turns and continues to head home. However, Tifa no longer feels her sister's weight and sees her running towards Cloud instead. Just before she goes to call her name, her eyes widen by what her shy little sister does. She hugs Cloud. She lets go and smiles at him. The blond kneels down again, pats her head and says something to her. Then, gets up and continues walking again. Marlene briefly follows him with her eyes, then turns her attention back towards her sister and runs to her. 

“What did he say to you Marlene?”

“He said, ‘be careful next time’.”

Tifa’s eyes look up towards Cloud. The emotionless classmate seems to have a heart somewhere in that cold exterior. She starts to get a strange feeling in her stomach and isn’t sure what it exactly is, but the feeling itself was really pleasant. The brunette holds her sister's hand, turns around and starts heading back home, as a small smile starts to grow on the older sister's face.


End file.
